This list will be my favorite current comic book writers. I learned around the turn of this past century that the surest way to make sure I was enjoying my comics wasn’t blindly following nonsense like the X-Franchise, which has, to be blunt, been often terrible, but to pick out quality writers and try following them from project to project. To make matters easier for myself in compiling this list, only current books, upcoming projects and stuff finished within about the past year count as making a writer my favorite. This prevents a guy like Warren Ellis, who despite being my all time favorite, probably has his best work being long behind him, from being on the list, let alone mostly retired folks like Alan Moore. Okay, caveat out of the way, here are the 20 best, in my opinion:
Honorable mention: Warren Ellis, Chris Giarrusso, Paul Tobin, Zeb Wells, Benito Cerano.
20. Larry Hama (GI Joe, GI Joe: Origins) – Larry Hama is the only really classic 80s writer to make the list. I’m sure there are a few better writers out there off the list, but getting into Hama’s current Joe run is the rare chance to see a current master of the art in top form on the book that made him famous, while somehow still being wildly accessible.
19. Paul Grist (Jack Staff) – The best writer artist in comics today with the best layouts and most creative world building unfortunately works at a glacial pace. It shouldn’t matter to you- you don’t read Jack Staff regularly anyway because you suck! Go get the trades.
18. Peter Tomasi (Green Lantern: Emerald Warriors, Green Lantern Corps, Brightest Day, upcoming Batman and Robin, Blackest Night Batman) – Talk about a fall off… two years ago, Tomasi was atop the heap with my favorite Nightwing run ever and Green Lantern Corps firing on all cylinders. Now, he has the new Emerald Warriors, too soon to know if it’s quality, and is co-piloting the terrible Brightest Day, easily the worst book on this list. Still, he remains worth watching- his Blackest Night Batman was a joy, and he can write the hell out of Dick Grayson, so Batman and Robin should launch him straight up this list.
17. Greg Pak (Incredible Hercules, Chaos War, Incredible Hulks) – His Hulk work has always been his calling card, but since Planet Hulk has been good, not great, and is mostly pined for in response to the Loeb nonsense. Now he gets the main title back, so let’s see where he goes. He has Banner at potentially his most compelling ever, but with a large cast, we’ll see how he juggles that. Hercules is absolutely top notch and Amadeus Cho is among my favorite new characters in recent memory. Pak is certainly worth watching, particularly for the upcoming and sure to be huge Chaos War.
16. Garth Ennis (whatever war stuff he’s in the mood for this month, the Boys) – Ennis’s best days are surely behind him. Preacher and Hitman are two of the seminal works of the 1990s. In the 2000s, he made Punisher matter again. Now, done with those, he appears to just want to have fun with the Boys and his various war comics. Unlike with Ellis, where a refusal to really go all out hurt his inclusion, Ennis’s always great characterization and incredible sense of plot and pacing make even these relatively minor works must read. Don’t sleep on Ennis, he’s still great.
15. Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (Nova, Thanos Imperative, Guardians of the Galaxy) – If they did any other genre at all, they’d be top five, but they know their audience and skillset and they deliver awesome space opera after astonishing space opera.
14. Brian Clevinger (Atomic Robo, Avengers and the Infinity Gauntlet, Captain America: The Fighting Avenger) – Atomic Robo is so good and clever, you just have no idea. His Marvel stuff is aimed at a kids so far, but suffers not a bit from that, and he truly deserves a far wider audience.
13. Roger Langridge (The Muppet Show, Thor: Mighty Avenger) – Mentally tied to Clevinger for me is Langridge, whose excellent, true to form Muppet Show has lead way to the most endearing (and that’s a word I never thought I’d use to describe this) Thor comic I’ve ever read. Thor: Mighty Avenger is pure fun and inventiveness with likable characters- exactly what I want from my comics.
12. Jeff Parker (upcoming Rulk, Underground, Thunderbolts, Atlas) – 6 months ago, Parker is a guy who’s probably top five. He’s an accomplished storyteller and the first two volumes of Agents of Atlas, along with Age of Sentry, are among my favorite imagination packed books ever. So, why is he so low? Seemingly in search of mainstream acceptance, he has toned down his lofty imagination and settled into telling merely very good stories. I’m still a Parker fan, no longer a fanatic.
11. Gail Simone (Birds of Prey, Secret Six, Wonder Woman) – To be perfectly blunt, she’s here because of Secret Six. It’s incredibly difficult to keep a cast of utter bastards this interesting for this long. Add in the strongest females in comics, not surprising for a female writer I suppose, in both Birds of Prey and Wonder Woman, and y
10. Mark Waid (Irredeemable, Incorruptible, Amazing Spider-Man) – Waid is currently putting out his best comics ever. The veteran has seemingly learned new tricks in creating his deep, unique world for Irredeemable and Incorruptible, utilizing a dark twist on the classic superhero narrative to tell stories of broken half men with the power of gods seeking redemption, while the rest of the world looks on in confused horror.
9. Fred Van Lente (Amazing Spider-Man, Incredible Hercules and spin-offs, Chaos War, Marvel Zombies, Deadpool Team-Up, Taskmaster, Halo, Iron Man: Legacy, Shadowland: Power Man, upcoming Power Man and Iron Fist, X-Men: Noir) – Pure imagination and fun are Van Lente’s hallmarks as he always has an interesting take, a unique plot that you’d never see coming but is somehow blindingly obvious when it does appear. The most prolific man on the list is arguably it’s funniest and most creative and that visionary creativity shines through nowhere better than the Incredible Hercules, a must-read comic if ever there was one.
8. Grant Morrison (Batman and Robin, The Return of Bruce Wayne, Joe the Barbarian, upcoming Batman, Inc) – Do I really need to write about comics most successful writer? He’s a magician, quite literally, who reinvents pop icons in his spare time and is currently doing more with the Batman mythology than anyone since Frank Miller. He’s probably the most talented man in comics and I’d really like to see him do more than just Batman. Joe the Barbarian, while great, is an artist’s story.
7. Kieron Gillen (Thor, Phonogram: The Singles Club, SWORD, Dark Reign: Ares, upcoming Generation Hope) – Sword was excellent fun, as is Dark Reign. His Thor run is criminally overlooked due to his replacing JMS, even though it has, by and large, been superior. Gillen isn’t here for those books though, as good as they may be. He’s up at #7 due to Phonogram. Phonogram is startlingly original and important work. It’s Constantine meets High Fidelity with an utterly unique manner of telling a story about music. He would leapfrog Cornell and O’Malley were Phonogram to continue, but, unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to me that it will.
6. Paul Cornell (Action Comics, Dark Reign: Young Avengers, upcoming Knight and Squire, Captain Britain and MI-13, Dark X-Men, Black Widow: Deadly Origin) – Cornell, hardly a young writer since he’s been doing Dr. Who and other very British works for almost two decades, is finally being introduced properly to mainstream audiences through Action Comics, where he’s fast turning Lex Luthor into an incredible protagonist. His Captain Britain work is wildly underrated and arguably the best Marvel book of the past five years. He even made failing propositions like Dark X-Men and Dark Reign: Young Avengers winning propositions. If his Knight and Squire is nearly as good as it can be, he can jump up from his already lofty perch.
5. Brian Lee O’Malley (Scott Pilgrim’s Finest Hour) – Scott Pilgrim is stunningly original and proof that if done right, a manga format can work for non-Japanese books. The best thing about O’Malley? Comics are his passion and even with Pilgrim done, he has no interest in leaving the medium. If you’ve read Lost at Sea, you know exactly how good that news is.
4. Matt Fraction (Uncanny X-Men, Invincible Iron Man, upcoming Thor, reprinting Casanova) – His Uncanny and Iron Man run are some of the definitive runs on each book already, and his previous Thor mini-series mean that will be excellent as well, but he has severely departed from his previous mad-cap style, first seen in Casanova. He’s the best superhero writer around, but can be so much more. Only the reprinting and continuation of Casanova prevent a Parker like fall, though.
3. Jason Aaron (Wolverine, Wolverine: Weapon X, Scalped, Ghost Rider, Punisher: Max, Astonishing Wolverine/Spider-Man) – Aaron has made a name for himself with amazing cool ideas and over the top violence. While that has revitalized franchises like Wolverine, Punisher and Ghost Rider, it’s never done better or with greater effect than Scalped, a series full of irredeemable characters you’ll fall in love with.
2. Jonathan Hickman (Fantastic Four, Secret Warriors, SHIELD, upcoming Ultimate Thor) – Fantastic Four is pure imagination and slowly unfolding story on a grand superhero scale, while Secret Warriors defies expectations and definition as a spy/superhero/war story that’s winding down. SHIELD is the best new comic out anywhere and is just unfettered imaginative historical fiction, while no one can tell what may come of Thor. At any rate, he’s my #1 if he ever returns to Pax Romana or some more creator owned stuff. Marvel’s sandbox is great, but can in no way hold Hickman’s talent.
- Robert Kirkman (Walking Dead, Invincible, Astounding Wolf-Man, Guardians of the Globe) – I’ll probably take heat for him being #1, but creating the two most successful creator owned series around in Walking Dead and Invincible, each of which appeals to an utterly distinct market makes Kirkman my clear #1. Versatility is the name of his game, as I know plenty of folks who love Walking Dead and hate Invincible and vice versa, yet no one who doesn’t really dig at least one of them. Great storytelling is the name of Kirkman’s game and his game is top notch.
So, that’s my list. Feel free to comment on who I forgot, but let’s not pretend I actually think Bendis, Johns, and Millar are worth reading any longer.
